Alevithymia
by spotdot
Summary: Eren's stuck in a castle slap bang in the middle of nowhere, and god does he really hate his life right now. But then, one morning he's greeted to Levi on his lap and suddenly things become a lot more interesting...
1. Chapter 1

Eren woke with a loud gasp when he heard the bang of his prison bar door. He sat up in shock and squinted toward the entrance to see Hanji standing outside his room, smiling brightly with her teeth gleaming against the darkness of his cell. A candle flickered beneath her, making her look a bit… evil.

"Good morning, Eren Yaeger! Get yourself ready today for some FUN."

She skipped away down the dreary passage-way, taking away with her the light of her candle, leaving him in pitch darkness once again.

He half sighed and half groaned as he flopped back down on his mattress. It was great to get out of the cell and do training or whatever, but at five o'clock in the morning? Eren didn't have a window in his cell, but he knew he was woken up at about that time. Damn dawn. The morning chorus. Urgh. These Recon Corps sure had it hard.

As he was rubbing the sleep away from his eyes, the smell of omelette wafted to his senses and suddenly he was awake. Very much awake. Now wide eyed and raring to go. He kicked his thin, slightly dirty blankets from on top of him, not caring that they landed messily on his bumpy mattress and twisted himself out of bed.

When he tried to open the large metal door, it wouldn't budge. He shook it. Still nothing. Eren heard a steady stream of footsteps and a patronizing click of the tongue, a light grew brighter as it came towards Eren.

"Are you so stupid as to try to escape when we're all asleep? I can't even applaud you for your efforts, brat."

As usual Corporal Levi ended his sentence with "brat" as he always did when talking to Eren. Not that it surprised him today, but his lack of trust in Eren made him annoyed. He rolled his eyes discreetly.

"Hanji was just here. I thought she'd opened the door because I heard a bang when I woke up."

He glanced at Levi timidly through his messy brown bangs as he realized his tone was harsh. "Sir."

"Tch. Yeah well, I doubt even Hanji would let you loose and just leave. The least she would do would be to ask hour long questions and attempt to dissect your goddamn filthy body while she thought no-one was looking."

Eren shuddered internally; a little at the thought of being dissected but mostly from the memory of having Hanji talk for any amount of excessive time. Never, just never again would he let Hanji put him through that after the night he stayed up with her as she explained about the titans, all of which he'd already known about. Even if Hanji was one of the few, nice Recon Corps that talked to him sometimes, just…no.

Eren watched Levi's calm face as he twisted the key in the lock, pausing for a long moment to glare at Eren for no reason in particular other than to make him uncomfortable, then opened the door which creaked loudly and echoed into the long tunnels.

"Move your ass, Eren."

He'd only been here for a few days, but Eren was now accustomed to walking with Levi who would usually talk collectedly about what he'd be doing that day. Today, they walked in comfortable silence, or as comfortable as one was capable of in Levi's intimidating presence. It allowed Eren to wake up a little more and prepare mentally for a long and tiresome day.

The candle in Levi's small hand flickered as they walked. At first, it had scared Eren to walk around in the dark with only a tiny flame to light the way it made him feel claustrophobic and nervous. But now, he treasured any source of light because it was much better than the agonisingly lonely pitch darkness of his cell.

They reached the dinning hall where the smell of egg and omelette filled the room and gave it a cosy morning atmosphere, much like the one he missed from his old home in Trost. He scanned the tables which were mostly full of people who crowded around each other in their groups, talking and laughing loudly.

Out of nowhere, Hanji bounded up to them and greeted Levi with a "Your morning dose of pipin' hot lovin' Heichou!" and thrusted a cup of scalding tea into his hand.

Eren winced at the fact that Levi didn't flinch at the heat. Levi glanced up at Hanji with an angry expression and held the cup with his hand over the top, his fingers grasping the cup by it's outer rim (Seriously how did he even drink his tea like that?!) as he took a sip. Eren watched him with a growing interest at the movement of his wrist but hurriedly looked away as Levi glared and almost met eyes with him. He felt some heat rush to his face as he looked ahead of him.

As Eren and Hanji walked towards the kitchen to be served food, Eren looked back at Levi when he couldn't hear his footsteps. He was frowning slightly at his tea and mumbling something along the lines of "-damn cheapskate pigs and their lousy low quality herbs."

When Eren had gotten his food, piled onto a tray, he looked for a place to sit. He had to really consider where he sat so that no-one felt targeted and he'd already found out that although people were nice and spoke to him, at the drop of a knife (a spoon in his case) everyone was ready to attack him to defend themselves. Everyone in this room was.

So he sat at the far end of a table where there was only one chair anyway and began to tuck into his food. At first, everyone had been really polite and spoken to him, probably out of pity but now they all chatted loudly and laughed easily. It bothered him a lot that his friends weren't here, but hey ho; he was helping humanity even so. At least, he would help everyone. Eventually.

"Eventually" was taking a fucking long and exhausting time.


	2. Chapter 2

That day was spent cleaning and repairing areas of the castle. He was quite happy to do this, only Levi was always checking up on him then telling him to clean it from scratch, and that was when he was in a good mood.

He was on his back for every unnoticeable smudge, no, make that every particle of dust and it was unbelievably difficult to restrain himself from screaming "It's clean! It's clean! It's so fucking clean that when I look for my reflection in the floorboards I see hell staring back at me!"

But ah, no, he had to be in control at all times and even though he truly hated to let it have a leverage over him; he had to admit that Levi was an amazing leader. So that meant no shouting at him. Urgh.

He settled for taking his anger out on the not so innocent stain on the floor that would never quite disappear enough for Levi's lowest standard.

During the day, when he had to replace the dirty water in his bucket, he walked past Levi in the hallway. He saw Levi grind his teeth as he leant against the wall and clutched his head. He hissed inwardly and clamped his eyelids shut in discomfort.

"Sir…?"

Levi lifted one hooded eyelid to reveal a slightly glazed look in his eye.  
"Eren…"

Eren was taken aback by the softness in which Levi spoke his name and blushed. Suddenly Levi's tone was harsh.

"Little shit, what did you-"

Levi's knees buckled beneath him. In a panic, Eren dashed over to him.

"Levi Heichou! Are you alright? What… D-do you need help to get to Hanji? She's a doctor, right? To some degree anyway… Do you want to see her?"

Eren's voice shook at the shock of seeing a pale and weak corporal. He didn't know, he didn't know what to do to help him.

Levi chuckled darkly at the mention of Hanji.

"Fat lot of use she'll be. I bet that bitch poisoned my tea this morning. Shit-! What the hell are you doing?!"

Eren hoisted Levi onto his shoulder.

"I'll take you to your room Heichou. Whereabouts is it?"

Levi groaned. "One floor up at the far end of the hallway to the right." he drooped with defeat into Eren's shoulder.

Eren struggled to keep Levi balanced on his shoulder as the latter was apparently well enough to complain that his shoulder was digging into him painfully. So now, Eren stumbled along with Levi to his room, hugging Levi's waist to his shoulder with both hands.

Although they hadn't come across anyone; Eren practiced his 'I got this' look in case anyone tried to interrupt his little hero expedition. He was finally feeling useful, for a human no less, and it was something he felt was long overdue considering the amount of time they'd all been here in this filthy old castle.

Levi was breathing quite heavily, so Eren decided to walk slowly so as not to hurt his chest or stomach, the shirt having come loose from under his trousers, revealing Levi's skin which felt surprisingly warm against his bare shoulder blade.

He'd figured that as reserved as Levi was, his body would be just as ice cold. He tried not to relish in the corporal's bodily warmth.

Having reached Levi's room after a few directions, Eren softly kicked Levi's door open and carried Levi to his bed which was a neatly made, white sheeted piece in the corner furthest from the window.

As Levi lay on his blankets Eren saw that his face was flushed rouge, including the tip of his nose, as if he were blushing. He watched as Levi breathed in and out, his chest rising and falling unsteadily with thin pink lips that were slightly parted-

He busied himself with finding a washcloth to cover Levi's feverish forehead. He found the bathroom, a porcelain bath and sink with a light colour on the walls and beautifully polished tiles on the floor and another window with a curtain of fine, white lace, and rinsed a cloth like object in the freezing water of the sink tap. He heard Levi calling from his bed.

"Oi, brat." he sounded like himself, at least.

Eren walked quickly to his room, cloth dripping in his hand. He was about to place the cloth on Levi's forehead when he swatted it away with a limp gesture.

"No, it's fine. I don't have a fever, it's just a migraine, headache-whatever. Just do me a favour and loosen these suspenders, they're fucking suffocating."

Eren looked at him uncertainly. Then, seeing no further instruction from Levi, he delicately unbuckled and peeled off the straps, hoping his corporal wouldn't notice how his fingers lingered on his chest shakily. Levi sighed happily when they were off, causing Eren to look away in embarrassment.

He noticed that Levi's face looked obviously more relaxed now and couldn't help but look at him, after realizing just how young the soldier looked. Neither of them said anything for a while, just like that morning when they'd walked to the dinning hall together and it had felt pretty nice.

After a while of watching Levi adjust to his new breathing space and appear to fall into shallow sleep, Eren left his side to find a chair, stretching his back after having crouched for so long. He felt a tug at the back of his shirt before he could go very far. He turned to see Levi watching him with half open eyes, lying on his side and looking quite sleepy.

"Just stay here," he croaked. "It'll look weird if you come out my room at this time, seeing as everyone's about to finish up. Plus I've got your key and I need-" he yawned. "need to supervise you on your way down…"

He hadn't exactly been intending to leave quite yet but was Levi… implying that he should stay? Here, in his room? For how long? He didn't think he could last the night breathing in Levi's scent, which was in every corner of the room. Levi had to feel near death if he didn't feel up to simply taking Eren to his cell in the basement.

He looked around, not sure where he should go, as Levi was still tugging onto him lightly but he knew that trying to get into Levi's bed would be suicidal even if he was in this state.

Then again, he was renown for being the suicidal bastard…

Suddenly he yelped.

"Ah! The water! The bucket! I forgot I forgot! I need to-"

Levi growled at him.

"Shut the fuck up. It's fine so stop fussing over, over…"

And with that the grip on Eren's shirt dropped and Levi fell fast asleep. Eren, who was also infamous for falling asleep in the most outrageous places and the least appropriate times, had been beaten in his zoning out ability by Levi, who could fall asleep mid-scolding.


	3. Chapter 3

Okay, so things get a bit weird and OOC but its explained later... (I'd be freaked out too with Levi's behaviour, ha)

Eren looked around Levi's room, chuckling at the corporal who had suddenly fallen asleep mid-sentence. It was such… a spacious and bright room. The sun was setting as he could see from the window that almost filled the wall from ceiling to floor and it made the room as warm and hazy as a distant memory. It peppered the room with a peaceful stillness.

He looked up to pale brown walls, probably cleaned thoroughly as most of the other rooms had had dampness or even mould. A bookshelf stood proud in the corner, it's polished chestnut wood gleaming brightly as the light of the sun fell onto it, all it's books were most likely alphabetised and the finest of the classics.

He noticed a small desk in the other corner of the room, closest to the window that held stacks of paperwork, all neatly lined up with the pinpoint precision that Levi strived for and had. Just how much work had Levi had to do while they were here? It looked like far more than he and the elite soldiers had had to do. Eren couldn't even write very well.

He realized; he knew next to nothing about Levi. He didn't even know what he did on a day to day basis, let alone personal details. What did he do in the old days in his old room here? He glanced at Levi, still on top of his covers, shivering slightly.

Moving toward Levi, he pulled some blankets over him, watching tenderly as he slept and sighed in his sleep.

Did he…cry himself to sleep at night? Maybe while he kept a straight, calm face around everyone else, perhaps, in his own time, he wept for the soldiers that had died, possibly who were under or even due to his command?

Eren finally become comfortable in the foreign room and lay on the couch that stood a few metres in front of the bed, having turned it to face Levi. You know. So that Levi could at least watch out for him if he suddenly turned into a titan in his sleep. But mostly so that he could keep an eye on Levi until he himself fell asleep.

That night, he dreamt of… Well. The bad things teenage boys normally dreamt about. That might not be technically true actually. Most boys thought about girls in that way, right? And usually girls around their own age. In the dream, Levi had been straddling him as Eren lay down on soft bedding, his corporal giggling and kissing his body while Eren could do nothing but just lie there, for some reason, unable to move at free will. He felt a wetness around his crotch as he squirmed and his eyes shot open faster than he could turn into a titan. He woke up to a sensual grin and glittering grey eyes that were up close and personal.

"Hey there Mr Hard On."

He almost screamed as Levi sat on top of him, caressing his chest with his index finger, moving it up and down languidly.

What the actual fuck?

Levi grinded into his groin with his ass once again (once AGAIN?!), causing Eren to almost groan wantonly, then sprang off the couch and Eren's body. He crouched next to his face, tapping Eren's nose as he spoke.

"So, ever so eager Eren, what would you like first. A bath, breakfast, or me?"

He grinned cheekily as Eren flushed from what felt like head to foot.

As if it was obvious, Eren knew that something was not right with Levi. If that man in Levi's room was even Levi. No way in Holy Saint Maria's wall could that have been Levi!

After a dream of being straddled by Levi, it turned out to not be a dream and Levi really had been grinding against his dick, he'd woken up to Levi being close enough to peer into the depths of his kindred spirit while staring and smiling at him sexily. There was absolutely no way that it could have been Levi; corporal never smiled!

All morning, Levi acted like this. After Eren had insisted on going straight to the dinning hall, rather than the alternative which uh, Levi told him would be Levi spoon-feeding him an omelette with heart shaped sauce on top (also, what was it with Recon Corps and omelettes?), Levi walked with him, as usual.

Except this time it was from Levi's room, not his own and Levi walked close enough beside him to be attached to his hip. Heichou talked about what they would be doing today, admittedly much more animatedly than normal and sometimes Levi randomly reached over and caressed his face or his hair with a lovesick look in his eyes and a red tint on his nose. He giggled when Eren leapt at the touch and blushed whenever Eren made polite eye contact which Eren kept to a minimal, given his body's and mind's state.

Then, in the dinning hall, Levi had dragged Eren to the side of the table with two chairs, poured tea for Eren, then himself, and generally fussing over Eren to no end. Nobody was around to see this scene, which he was half thankful for but also wishing that someone could call this faker out on his bullshit.

He touched and flirted with Eren so blatantly and loudly that it made Eren's face turn bright pink, causing heichou to "innocently" ask if his face was the same colour as his head? With that, Eren submitted to a slight mental breakdown, panic attack shell shock or whatever it was called and excused himself, dashing to the bathroom.

The man through there Was. Not. Levi. To make things worse, and despite his shock, Eren was unbelievably aroused from Levi's touching and flirting and had to wait until his throbbing erection calmed in the toilet, thanking the Walls for his privacy. Heichou had smiled! And blushed! And touched him! And laughed! Well, giggling even, which was even more adorable. It all made Eren's chest hammer as he heaved heavy breaths and his body cooled down.

Shit! He allowed himself to admit internally that he'd sort of had a crush on his corporal, but even then, Eren told himself that it was mostly his looks, not his abrasive and reserved personality and incredible deadpan humour. But now it was an overload for his pathetically pubescent body that was crying out to be touched by this fraud that wore Levi's face. Thankfully though that urge had mostly died down.

Of all people, Erwin entered the bathroom just then. About to go into a cubicle until he saw Eren who was pretending to wash his hands. He frowned at the red faced teen.

"Is something the matter?"

Oh thank sweet Holy Wall of Maria that Erwin was acting sane! Normal! Himself! Eren dashed over to the commander.

"Have you seen Levi today? He's gone mad! He's gone crazy! He, he isn't himself at all! And h-he keeps doing things to me-"

"Doing things to you?"

Erwin's face seemed to cloud over, but Eren was panicking too much to notice.

"Ye-yes sir. He's been… well flirting with me, I guess? And smiling, oh god I've never seen him smile before and it's so weird because I didn't think it was even possible…"

Erwin sighed. "Only you? He's only done these things to you?"

Eren frowned. "Well, yeah, I mean I'm the only one he's been with today,"

He suddenly remembered that no-one should know that he'd been in Levi's room, for a whole night! he screamed internally.

"A-at least that's what he told me." he added.

Erwin thought for a few moments.

"Alright," he clapped his hands together.

"Come with me and we'll deal with this then." he ordered.

Eren complied quickly and followed him out the bathroom. After years of training camp, following orders had become a primal instinct.

Well, almost.


	4. Chapter 4

Eren suddenly felt as though he was in a very dangerous situation. He'd followed Erwin to the dinning room who'd walked up to Levi, who'd been sipping his tea and fidgeting in boredom which just added to the strangeness of Levi's current character, and sat opposite him at the table with their food and drink. It looked very much like an interrogation, except Eren couldn't tell who was the criminal and who was the police man.

Erwin faced Levi; his shoulders were straight as if he was in a meeting but he also leaned in with a deadly serious look in his eyes. Levi also leaned in, he had regained his previous reserved air and intimidating aura but there was a smirk on his lips and his eyes shot poison at the commander.

Eren quietly sat next to Levi, as if he was trying to not step on a landmine along the way. He watched the scene from Levi's side in his chair, casually picking at his food on the plate since he was inappropriately starving. At least it felt wrong to be hungry, seeing as the suspense should have filled him up.

"So Levi." Eren said. "I heard from a little bird that you've become a new man and that you're relishing in it's benefits."

What a weird thing to say…

Erwin clasped his hands together on the table tightly. His tone had a chilling factualness to it. It was clear he wanted an answer to his subtle questioning.

"A new man, you say? Is that what you really think? Why; I'm sure I wake up a new man every day, as each day is so enlightening. I'm sure most people feel the same way."

Levi's smirk seemed to have difficulty in trying to not turn into a grin as he spoke coldly to the commander. Had Levi… changed back to his old self? …Already?

Eren looked to Levi with the confusion still swirling around his head. Erwin still glared at Levi seemingly unable to take his eyes off him, much in the same way everyone had their eyes trained on Eren, the instantaneous titan shifter, and it wasn't something he was comfortable with. In more than one way right now.

"Um, Erwin…" His head snapped towards Eren, the intense look in his eyes still there. Eren focused his eyes on Erwin's sleek blonde hair, avoiding eye contact and pushed on bravely.

"Maybe we should, um, just leave it since, you know. He seems fine, right? He's… himself. Yeah he's acting like himself, isn't he? I think-"

"Levi." Erwin said suddenly, no longer interested in Eren. "The day's plan is to do training and I require your assistance in arranging said plan. Come to my office. Now, please."

The black haired man stayed seated, sipping his tea, as if to mock his boss like a rebellious teenager.

"Give me a few minutes, would you?" He asked. "I haven't eaten much or even drunk all of my tea yet, and I'm sure everyone knows how it goes when I haven't had my tea."

He turned his face to the table and began to eat his omelette, his fork clinking loudly in the almost empty dinning hall. Eren was astonished at Levi level headedness… Laid back attitude? Sheer stupidity? Levi was always utterly loyal to the higher ups in the way that the majority of people living in the walls were happy to remain caged up, just like the livestock they brought up and it had always made Eren furious. So for Levi to stand up to Erwin… he had to say; he was pretty proud of Levi for his bold action. If Erwin was surprised, he sure didn't show it.

"Alright. That's fine, then. Please come over once you've finished eating and cleaned yourself up."

His voice sounded commanding, like the list of things to do he gave Levi were orders. Like he was giving permission to Levi so he could eat his breakfast. What the fuck was up with that?" None of the soldiers he knew spoke like that to anyone.

Before Eren could unleash his anger, be it verbally or physically, Erwin rose form his seat and left the dinning hall without another word, leaving the two of them in the hall alone. Once Erwin was out of ear shock, Levi put down his fork and moved his seat closer to Eren, not looking at his face while he sighed and lay his head on Eren's arm.

"Heichou…?"

"He's such an ass, you know that? 'That's fine then.' " he mimicked Erwin's deep and strict voice. He pulled a sneer in disgust. "What a jerk." he mumbled as he leaned over to hug Eren's sides, his head now resting on Eren's chest and the rest of his body balancing on the edge of his seat.

Eren's mind went blank for a moment, his skin tingling and a fire raging in his chest where Levi's face nuzzled. He cocked his head in interest and slight bewilderment. Had all that before been an act? Or was this, this undoubtedly intimate gesture, the act?

"You mean you don't like taking orders? I thought you liked being faithful to the commander."

"You're wrong, kid." he snuggled further into Eren, his breathing hitching every now and then as he tried to hide the fact he was smelling Eren who had the aroma of dried leaves and moss.

"I like helping people, because that's normally what I'm asked to do. I've got a real soft spot for helping people, I guess. But it's times like these when he's just being bloody selfish and I hate it because I feel like I'm being taken advantage of. Today, I just decided to let him know that I'm not just some feral pup he potty trained. I have feelings… and things I want to do other than be his slave."

He thought the commander was being selfish?

Levi looked up to Eren with his eyebrows creasing upwards sadly and soft grey eyes that reminded Eren of a puddle on a rainy day.

For the first time since Levi had a personality flip in the morning, Eren gave into Levi's clinginess. He put his arms around him and pulled his corporal closer, burying his face into Levi's surprisingly soft head of ebony hair. It was way too comfortable to feel embarrassed or nervous, but it still felt good and… Well, just nice really. Eren let himself relax into their embrace.

"Yeah, that's true Levi, sir. That's very true. I'm sure somewhere in that hidden heart of yours you've got a whole bucketful of feelings just waiting to be poured out. Although, you'd be pretty cute as a dog, I think."

He might as well just roll with it. Even so, he still blushed at the fact he called heichou "cute". He stroked Levi's hair with one hand, the latter shivering under his touch and sighing deeply.

"Hey Levi, what do you want to do? Seeing as you're not his slave for just now."

Why was he saying this? He escaped Levi's hair and looked down to see a wide eyed and blushing Levi with his lips tightly closed timidly. Who was in his goddamn arms. He melted at the sight of him. Yeah; this was exactly why.

"Well… Usually, I clean when I have spare time. Or just at anytime at all."

Eren laughed, crinkling his nose and eyes as the bubbly sound echoed the room.

"I-I also read the books in my room. Mostly at night. A lot of them are mystery novels, I think."

Levi smiled as he told Eren those random little details that would seem meaningless to anybody else. But in that closed space between them it was an important push of progress in their relationship. (What kind of relationship are we talking about now? Cause damn, it's getting cosy in here.) Eren grinned, completely immersed in his conversation with Levi about a couple of little things, that weren't really little things at all. Hell, he would have been able to talk to Levi about anything just like this for hours…Unlike Hanji.

"You know Levi, I might just not let you drink your tea in the morning from now on if it makes you talk to me like this. Not to mention this."

He squeezed Levi tightly who yelped beneath him in surprise then giggled. When Eren let him go, Levi sat up, his hair sticking out at all sorts of odd angles as if he had bed-head and slowly drank his tea.

"Nope, no can do kid." he mock scowled at Eren then broke into a big smile.

"Don't 'kid' me corporal. Otherwise I'm gonna do this."

He poked Levi in the ribs who spluttered and laughed at the ticklish spot. Seeing his weakness, Eren kept at it, until Levi, still convolved in laughter grabbed his hands in his and gazed mischievously into Eren's eyes.

For some reason, only now did Eren gulp. His hands began to shake lightly and he felt the heat churning in the pit of his stomach. With Levi there, right in front him and in his arms, so fucking beautiful with sparkling eyes and pale, supple skin and a goddamn cheeky grin on his lips, it made Eren realize just how aware his entire being was of Levi. How much he wanted to kiss him all over. How Levi made his breathing quicken and his mind a mess mixed with ecstasy. How Levi was capable of blanking his mind apart from himself and not even realizing what he was doing.

He could slip right into the romance with a kiss. Everything was perfectly set up for it, the mood, the tension, the look in his eyes and Eren was taken aback by the overwhelming urge to kiss this man. Should he?

Before Eren got the chance to decide on his love life, his stomach rumbled and Levi laughed, breaking their stare and untwining their fingers. He reached back to the table, picking up the remainder of Eren's abandoned breakfast with his own fork and spoon feeding Eren his omelette. He wasn't really ready to be embarrassed about this particular ritual but he begrudgingly accepted the food in his mouth, trying not to laugh. He didn't tell Levi that his food was stone cold already. Why would he need to, when Levi was as adorable as this?

Far from the oozing love scene in the dinning hall, Erwin stormed through the murky passageways in a flying rage. Why the fuck had Levi spoken to him like that? Wasn't he supposed to be loyal? It was that fucking titan's fault, sitting there beside him spilling his food all over himself like the shitty, bratty kid he was and somehow Levi didn't even notice or try to clean it up.

This hadn't been the plan.

The little shit was playing his part fine and fucking dandy.

But Levi, god it had taken him every sense of restraint to keep talking like a civilised man when Levi had been talking to him in that spicy manner of his. That was, until he noticed that Levi was enjoying the cold war between them, he'd seen his eyes twinkling in excitement just like that fucking kid. He wasn't acting like he should have been for the plan to work. He'd prepared for something like this. Or, at least he would. Eventually. And that eventually had to come bloody quick before this game was over and he lost it.

His footsteps banged loudly as the after-step echo followed, his boots tinkling with their buckles as he made his way to the room. In his rush, he'd forgotten to wear his cape, leaving him in his white shirt and suspenders as he froze in the dark-ass tunnels. His arms swung by his sides, keeping in time with his aggressive stride.

Finally, he made it; his destination. He paused outside the room but not for long, not bothering to straighten himself up because he didn't see the fucking need to if all he would be seeing was the bitch.

He lowered his eyebrows in his practiced glare and crashed through the wooden door.

"Hanji; you have half a second to get the fuck out from wherever you are and tell me what the hell you've done.


	5. Chapter 5

"Ah! Erwin; just the man I wanted to see! Have you seen the effects? It's incredible! I didn't think it would work so quickly, only after a day and night, it seems? My, my, it's been terribly fun studying them from the shadows but I've more than likely missed half of the behind the scene action!"

"What 'would work' Hanji?"

Hanji had that look on her face as she half sat, half bounced in her desk chair. Papers with scraggly writing were messily sprawled all over the work top and a dozen lanterns lit the room from the undecorated stone walls. Her eyes widened in delight and her mouth gaped open, her tousled hair and the bags under her eyes were the evidence that she'd been up for several hours too long. She gathered her thoughts while she blinked at him stupidly a couple of times. Then it all came pouring out.

"See, at first when he took the drug, he didn't notice anything out of the ordinary, which is pretty big, and he started acting loopy the day after; I thought it was just a gland hypo function or an infection in the nervous system or maybe even a-"

"Hanji." Erwin barked. "Your point, please." His voice was soaked with sarcasm on the 'please'. He knew he had the uncanny ability to sound rude even when he spoke politely and he used it to his full advantage when it came to dealing with the soldiers lower than his level.

Hanji ignored his disdain and tried to simplify her thoughts for the commander.

"Right, so… So that you understand, commander, I thought that the potion, the love potion as you put it, I thought it had worked."

"What-you mean it didn't?!" Erwin swiftly moved from the door to her desk, slamming his hands hard on top of the surface with a loud bang. His face contorted in anger.

"Well," Hanji kept a straight face, trying not to laugh at his desperation. "There were some effects that released the chemical of, let's say, there was a knock on effect that resulted in the chemical of love. This emotion released in the brain but my theory is that it wasn't the potion at all, since there was nothing in the liquid I gave him that could have done that. I mean, it's impossible."

Erwin frowned, not able to take it in.

"So, it didn't work… but it still did?"

"Erwin." She grabbed his shirt collar violently but spoke softly with bright eyes. "It wasn't the potion that made Levi fall in love with Eren. It was his personality change that allowed him to express his already reciprocating feelings towards Eren."

"Towards Eren?! Hanji, that isn't what the plan was at all! I told you to make Eren fall in love with Levi! Not the other way around!"

She let go of Erwin, sitting back in her seat, clasping her hands together.

"Erwin; "reciprocating". Consider what that means. After studying them it was embarrassingly obvious that Eren already liked Levi to a great extent." Not that you'd notice, you big idiot. "You know, you were in quite a rage about the whole thing, so I didn't really hear it all and misunderstood it a little. Not to mention the pressure of being killed by a dagger to the neck that probably put me into action quicker. And you're still to tell me what this is all about. Making people fall in love with each other. Are you that eager to see them dating?"

She pointed a finger at him, peering at him from above the top of her lens.

"I at least ask that you tell me eventually, even if I messed it up a smidge."

"Why?" he asked.

"I'm only human, right? As that is the sad truth. I'm curious. And I'm also interested in finding out what going on in that fucked up brain of yours, seeing as I can't dissect it...yet."

He rolled his eyes at her, the whites almost glowing in the light of the lanterns.

"I can tell you now and forever that that isn't happening. Ever. Not even over my dead body. In fact, especially not over my dead body because I know you'd wait for the chance then to do it."

"The dissecting or the telling?"

He glared at her. "Both."

"Erwin!" She screeched as she collapsed onto the floor, pulling papers down with her.

Erwin left the room and the maniac in it, ignoring its cries.

"Tell me if anything interesting happens. You should have told me about how Eren is already in love with Levi."

He slammed the door shut as he hurried to his office.

A personality change, huh? And Eren being in love with Levi. And Levi with mutual feelings. He pushed that thought to the back of his mind, not denying the fact that it bothered him. Because why the hell would he? The situation could have it's advantages. But considering that morning's encounter with Levi, and his own feelings in the mix, it might not actually be a good thing. At all.

Suddenly he stopped mid pace and grinned to himself in the darkness. He had the perfect plan. The perfect back up plan.

Later that day, when the soldiers assembled in the grassy field for training, Petra glanced towards Eren and Levi yet again. Like everyone else who was sane enough to see the titanic change in Levi. They were sparring, Levi with heavy punches and Eren with flitting kicks. The other soldiers tried to spar as well, but ended up just confusedly staring at Levi, helpless because this wasn't what they'd trained for.

Beside her, Auruo stood grimacing as he took in the scene before him, blatantly staring at them because it wasn't like they'd notice. Being as self absorbed as they were just then.

"Do you think something's up with those two?"

When the horses arrived with the corporal on its back, everyone had been gaping. Before hopping off, he'd smiled at the horse and stroked its mane affectionately. Then he'd immediately sought out Eren and began talking and laughing with him. Eren, who ignored Heichou's flirtatious kisses with a surprisingly straight face, signalled to the soldiers that Levi had been drinking one too many. It was a painfully evident lie. They knew that Levi was an angry drunk after having once had a drinking party. But due to the shock of Levi's behaviour no-one dared to question his sudden change in attitude and new quirks, for fear of him snapping back and sending them to their deaths for mocking him behind his back.

It felt like some sort of test. This made Petra and seemingly everyone else uneasy and cautious, causing them to dart their eyes in the direction of Levi to make sure he wouldn't attack them out of the blue.

At Petra's question, Auruo turned just looked at her, boring his eyes into her belittlingly as he looked down at her and smirked.

"Of course not. Levi always swoops around Eren; it's always been such a laugh for us when he teases him. He's forever smiling and shitting fucking rainbows out his goddamn ass that everyone knows Eren is doing each night. Levi has such an endearing and charismatic character. Don't you think?"

Petra frowned and felt a growing anger burning in her fist.

"Stop swearing and being sarcastic. Levi doesn't swear every second sentence and his jokes actually have taste, so you sound nothing like him."

Especially not now, when Levi sounded nothing like his usual self, in fact it was the total opposite of his rude and alienating comments. She swore she'd heard Levi use a pun. To which she'd almost cried out in pain.

She nudged Auruo and pointed to Eren.

"So Levi's definitely acting weird. But what about Eren?" Her sky blue eyes looked up at Auruo with a look of worry carved into them. Auruo frowned at that, taking her seriously now.

Earlier when Eren had arrived at the field he'd been very quiet. He didn't go to speak to anyone like he usually did. In fact, he'd been cold to everyone, giving them closed answers and not making eye contact with anyone. Not even Levi, who was all over him and trying to get words out of him with cheeky questions. His face was a mask without emotion but if Petra had to choose, she'd say he looked awkward and depressed. It couldn't have been Levi's strangeness. When Eren was embarrassed he was flustered and spoke stupidly. When he was angry he was expressive and well, angry. What was he thinking about that made his face look like it had been chiselled from stone? Just what had happened to both of them?

Now, even their fighting tactics were different. For some bizarre reason Levi charged into Eren, as if disregarding the height and build difference, with wide eyes that were alive with adrenaline and excitement. He scarcely dented into his opponent, who clearly knew what he was doing. And instead of calculating his movements he threw punches messily and impulsively. Meanwhile Eren had just smirked at Levi smugly, every now and then letting out a 'tch' when Levi missed a hit. He dodged every one of Levi's chaotic blows and managed more punches and kicks then ever before in a match with Levi. His previous record was somewhere around zero.

Petra watched from a few meters away at the picnic table, not able to sit down because the fight looked serious, deadly serious and she was ready to jump in there and stop them if she had to. When she looked around, she saw that others were the same, ending their attempt at sparring and spreading out evenly in a circle around the fight. Her gaze moved back to the duo, her eyes shot wide open and her eyebrows raised in amazement.

Eren, the clear winner of that round and all the previous, landed a final punch that sent Levi flying four meters and who landed on his back with a crack. Eren pulled in his outstretched hand, eyes watching Levi closely, preparing for any counter attacks.

"Time out!" Gunther cried out.

He looked petrified and hyper alert, just as he had done when Eren had burst out into the form of a titan that one time during lunch. Petra had the memory of that incident stowed in her, knowing that she had to be wary of Eren, even though it hurt to be so untrusting of him.

Gunther ran towards them both. But Eren seemed to have no intention to fight again. Petra sprinted to them too, Eren peered down at Levi with a hooded glare that was all too familiar to Petra, but just not on that face with those messy brown bangs and brilliant green eyes. It sent a chill down her spine. Something was very wrong.

"Eren…" she whispered to him.

"What?" he asked her.

He looked bored and irritated. How could he look so uncaring when he'd just knocked out Levi?!

"Don't you think you've done enough now? Is… everything alright?"

Eren looked at her, tilting his head and frowning slightly.

"Yes, everything's fine. Why do you ask?" he glanced at Levi. "Well. Maybe his ego is a bit bruised but his body won't have a scratch on it. This is Levi we're talking about here."

And this is the transforming guy with colossal, inhuman strength who just knocked out an elite titan killing soldier that I'm talking with!

He smirked slightly, almost affectionately to Levi, seemingly regaining his usual cheekiness.

"Come on, old man. You aren't out of it already are you? What's another round to that physique of yours?"

Levi no longer heaved his chest deeply. At hearing Eren's taunt, he leapt up, scaring the others around him who'd tried to revive him. His eyes were ablaze and furious.

Eren chuckled.

"Perhaps that's not such a good idea after all." he stared at Levi, leaving him with his eyebrows raised and mouth open in fear.

Eren gave a small, genuine smile that relaxed Levi. He grinned happily and walked over to him, slinging his arm around the taller man and laughing.

"That was so awesome! Geez, you really got me there Eren! I thought I was a total goner for a second there. Ha, I knew you had potential! Why didn't you fight like this from the beginning? Could've saved us a lot of time and resources you know."

Levi smirked and brushed his lips against the nape of Eren's neck, standing on his tip toes as he did so.

"I just had a marvellous idea where we could do a little "roleplaying" with that "Commander Eren" persona of yours tonight. Your teasing certainly did some interesting things to me out in the field. I doubt Erd will look at me the same way again."

Eren's lifeless face broke out into a blush, his mouth contorted in discomfort as he steadily grew more and more embarrassed. He avoided Levi's warm gaze, but he didn't move away. Then he looked at Levi properly and smiled broadly, his eyes crinkling as he gave a short breath of laughter.

Thank the Walls. He seemed back to himself, and it was as if the dark spell that had come over him had never even happened. He spoke to the other soldiers, asking them how they'd got on with their sparring, apparently unaware that they'd been watching his fight instead of training. Petra loosened her shoulders in relief. Her knees almost buckled as the weight of worry lifted off her shoulders.

Eren was back, if not Levi. Eren had seemed scarily dangerous, so Petra didn't blame herself for being focused on him alone. And being honest, Levi smiling was an amazing change of pace. But, thinking of it now, as she stared at them both in disbelief while they chatted with the soldiers beside the horses, she couldn't even consider what had happened to make them act like this. She followed the soldiers as they mounted their horses, evidently emotionally drained after the fight, except Levi and Eren who calmly started leading the way back to the castle, side by side.

What in good heaven was going on?


	6. Chapter 6

_Levi's personality change WILL be explained, and since I didn't really like a few of the chapters after this, I might change the story slightly because in the AO3 version Levi just becomes ridiculously out of character -.- Thanks for the feedback and follows and stuff!_

Levi's laugh. Loud and clear. Echoing around the walls of the castle dining room like bells in a church. Eren stared at the man that sat beside him, like everyone else at the table, still unable to fathom how such a miracle could occur. Eren was their number one suspect and their intense glances sent shivers down his spine. They'd sat together in the morning but this time, there were others to watch them interact, looking as though they knew they were witnesses to a crime.

The lanterns were bright in the room, radiating a warm glow as if to match Levi's laugh. He was talking to Erd and Gunther animatedly, telling them about the time he and Erwin had let loose a chicken by accident in the market. They'd spent all day and half the night looking for it, calling out ridiculous names for it to respond to and getting stuck in several small spaces. Erd frequently glanced over to Eren, who was entangled in Levi's arm, eyes narrowed as if he expected a damn good explanation for all this. But Eren knew just as little as Erd or anyone else in the room about why Levi had become so friendly and cheerful. Frighteningly so. But when things were like this, when the room had such a pleasant atmosphere as they listened to Levi, no-one really felt the need to call them out on it. Either that or they weren't that bothered.

Eren only wished that he'd been with Levi that day, had seen the angry market man with his livestock, his beard of "duck weed" and searched with him in the fields and town to look for the little, troublesome chicken. He wished he could've been Erwin that day, who'd seen Levi's anger as he shouted at the market man, seen his usual skulking scowl and heard his inventive and rude complaints. Erwin who'd spent hours upon hours in Levi's presence, all in one day and a half. Erwin was nice to Eren. Eren had admired his status as a child, he was friendly the first time they'd spoken, and he'd been helpful to him too like that morning. Maybe he could tell Eren more about Levi? Levi was a mysterious, reserved man, so it wasn't unlikely that people would wonder about him. It wouldn't be strange to ask, surely?

He had the Levi of now, though, Levi's warm arm around his own-something Erwin had never had. Levi had his sleeved rolled up, exposing bare flesh, toned muscles and millions of fine hairs that escalated up his arms and stood on end in the chilled air of the dining room. Eren stared with soft eyes. It was beautiful. Levi was very beautiful.

"And when we finally got the guy his damn chicken back, trailing back across town to give it back to him the next morning, and held it out to him, you know what he said? 'You tryin' at sell me a chicken, son? I didn'a know you wis a farmer, who're you? You new to the business? I'll give yeh John's good ol' tips.'"

Levi mimicked the market man's accent, thick and heavily drawled out. Eren tittered, unable to hold it back. Not that anyone noticed, thankfully. They were too involved in Levi's story. He kept his eyes on the table as he listened.

"I had to try so hard, my best, not to pull a gun from my back pocket on his temple right there on the spot. Took up all my willpower to do that. Erwin, the idiot, he just told the man I was mistaken and he… Afterwards he told me to keep it. Keep the chicken and raise it as our own." Levi looked thoughtful for a moment, a fond smile playing on his lips. "Yeah, that was it, he told me to call it Assassin because it had been that good at hiding from us and we'd said that that chicken would be the death of us, so Assassin it was. Also, it had looked very ready to kill us when we caught her stealing corn from a field."

Eren laughed at that, his shoulders shaking and his stomach already beginning to hurt. He looked at Levi, who looked back at him happily.

"Hey, Levi Heichou, do you still have Assassin?"

"No. She died years ago of old age. We'd kept her in the shed when we stayed here back then. We were able to hide her really well in there because it was far enough from the castle." he rested his chin on the base of his hand, elbow beside his plate of mostly untouched food, his other hand slid down to occupy Eren's.

"We should've had another one, though. Poor bird looked really lonely and she never made much noise. Animals shouldn't ever be locked up or kept as pets unless it's necessary, but if they are then they should at least have a friend."

He sighed sadly, looking down at the table, his thumb caressing the knuckles on Eren's fingers. Eren gaped at him. That was… That was adorable. Who knew Levi thought things like that? Levi noticed his staring, as did everyone else, and smiled at him bashfully. His eyes sparkled because yay! Eren was looking at him! And Eren looked so cute…

Levi caressed the boy's wrist, lifting his hand to entwine it with his and kissed the back of it, grey eyes smoothly looking into his green ones. Eren felt like a butterfly had just landed on his hand. Except, the area that Levi kissed tingled and made his breathing quicken, only able to see the man in front of him.

Across the table, Auruo coughed and squirmed uncomfortably in his chair, desperate to ask something. The two broke their gaze to look at him, Levi dropped their hands, still holding onto Eren.

"Lance Corporal, are… are you and that kid together? You know, together-together…?"

It was one of those rare moments when Auruo didn't look smug or bored. He looked uneasy as he watched Eren blush while Levi clung onto him tighter with a fierce gaze set on Auruo.

"If that were the case, would it bother you?" His eyes slowly scanned the faces at the table. "Would it bother you all if that were true?" Eren felt Levi's hand getting warmer as he became nervous.

"Not at all." Petra immediately told them.

There were a couple of "I guess not's" and a sarcastic "I didn't see that one coming's". Then Gunther added something else to the mix.

"What would the higher ups think of that though?" he looked at Eren and Levi hastily.

"Considering you're under surveillance, under arrest and also um, underage… is a relationship between you two legal?" his eyes flickered between Levi and Eren.

"I mean, I couldn't be happier for you two; age difference and same sex-I don't care, but… I don't want it to go badly for you and everyone else, either."

The dining room plummeted to a silence. It was tense and heavy with the weight of years until Eren spoke up, his heart racing, face and ears flushed bright red and his skin burning hot in Levi's grip. Levi had implied they were together, and everyone had taken him seriously. Of course they would. This was Levi, whether they thought it was or not.

"Would you be willing to keep quiet about it?"

Before, Eren had been told that the soldiers couldn't trust him. It was their job not to, under every circumstance. Even so, he'd had to control himself, he couldn't lose it and try to turn and forced himself to listen to their side of the story, even if they could never fully trust him. Could he trust them, though? He'd never had the opportunity to think about it before. It made him even more nervous.

Everyone looked down at the table, deep in thought, knowing that they could get fired, imprisoned for the treason of lying and also understanding quietly that it was a huge thing for Eren to ask them to do something.

"I wouldn't tell." Erd told them, his face was calm but his eyes glittered at the thought of having a secret to keep.

"Of course, I'd be willing to keep quiet about it. I want what's best for you and what makes you happy."

Petra smiled broadly at them. If their relationship meant that Levi, the man with the eternal scowl and furrowed brow, was happy and Eren, a boy who'd pretty much lost everything but moronic hope, had faith in something, it couldn't be more worth it. Gunther nodded in agreement to Petra. She looked toward Auruo worriedly, not knowing how he would answer and nudged him with her elbow.

His eyes narrowed as he sat back in his chair, tilting it back to put a foot on the table. He attempted a smirk.

"You think you're good enough for humanity's strongest soldier? Tch. He must be beside a well of pity for you, or doing it for a good f-" Out of nowhere he bit his tongue, his hands flying to his mouth as his foot fell from the table. His eyes watered as he glared at Eren, then looked at Levi who was still giving him his own, much more deadly glare. His cockiness evaporated. He sighed.

"Fine. Whatever. Secret it is. But one slip up from you, Jaeger, and it won't be the higher ups you'll have to worry about."

Eren paled as everyone looked at him expectantly. He'd just been informed that he was currently together with Levi, whatever that meant, and now he would have to take responsibility for the man's happiness as if they'd just swapped vows. It was way too much to take in in one day, on top of everything else. From the morning straddle to training to now. It had been an exhaustingly long day and it still wasn't over yet.

"Deal. I'll make sure that Levi is happy and you'll promise not to tell anyone Levi and I are t-together."

"Deal." the table said in unison.

Levi looked over to Eren, still clinging onto his arm. His eyes crinkling as he smiled at Eren.

"You're blushing, you know. It's pretty cute."

He whispered, even though everyone could hear him and were embarrassed at their intimacy. Eren hid his face in his hands and groaned. Levi chuckled at him. He let go of Eren and clasped his hands together with a clap.

"Why don't we drink to celebrate?"

Petra frowned up at him.

"Aren't some of us too young to be drinking, sir?" she glanced at Eren.

Levi rolled his eyes.

"Alright then children. Tonight, you're twenty five." he pointed at Petra.

"You're both twenty-seven." he looked at Erd and Gunther.

He grinned at Auruo.

"And you, you old man, are fourty this year, congratulations."

Auruo opened his mouth in protest, his eyes wide in horror while everyone laughed. Levi pushed his chair across the wooden floor. He left the table in search of the kitchen storeroom. Meanwhile, as soon as Levi was out of earshock, Eren was bombarded with billions of questions and several excited voices.

"So when did you guys start dating?"

"How far have you two gone? Is he good?"

"Who asked who? Was it romantic? Funny?"

"What did you do to Levi?"

The last one caught Eren off guard. In fact it caught everyone off guard except Auruo, who wanted to know what this brat his done to his idol, turning him into some ball of fluff. What was he thinking?

He hesitated as he looked at the eyes that searched his face for answers. Despite keeping quiet about it, everyone wanted to know what had happened to Levi more than anything else. It was better than explaining that Levi had just announced they were together, without giving Eren any sort of warning beforehand and that uh, it hadn't exactly been very romantic. He sighed and combed his fingers through his hair.

"Levi woke me up this morning," he started carefully, not wanting to step on anything that would set off more questions, like the things that had really happened that morning.

"And he was acting strangely, like you've seen him just now. He, he was also feeling sick yesterday on my way to get water so I went and helped him." his intonation ended on a higher note, as if in question as he recalled the previous day, when there was no other Levi and questions had answers to them. It felt like yesterday was weeks ago. "Yeah, he said something about his tea not tasting right, maybe thinking it had been poisoned?"

The whole table gasped and eyes widened in shock.

"Poisoned?!"

"But that can't be true, right? I mean, he's perfectly fine body wise." Gunther nodded in agreement to Erd.

"Yeah, the effects of poison would have done something to him sooner, no matter what kind it was."

A crashing sound came from the kitchen store and everyone tensed, frozen in place. Eren jumped out his chair and bolted towards the noise, not looking behind him.

"Levi?" he called out in the dimly lit store room, there was only one torch in here and it wasn't used often. He shivered in the new coldness.

"…I'm here."

Levi's voice came from a pile of fallen boxes a few feet in front of Eren. He lifted the boxes away, finding an embarrassed Levi underneath. Dust covered his cheeks.

"Now, I'd say I didn't need your help but… I'm stuck." he giggled as he hid his mouth and his eyes lit up.

"What am I going to do with you?"

Eren's eyes softened as he gave Levi a lopsided grin. He grabbed Levi's arm and pulled him out, Levi wrapped his arms around his neck.

"Did you at least find the drink in your little expedition?"

Levi tutted at him. "I haven't told you that you're old enough to drink."

"Well then I'll just be the same age as you for tonight."

"No, no. That won't do at all. See, I like how younger men are much more daring and…frisky."

Levi's voice came out in a whisper at the end of his sentence. His face glowed red in the dimply lit room and he looked away from Eren. Eren smiled to himself as Levi let him go once he was free and replaced the boxes from the high shelf. Levi took one from him and headed to the door, waiting for Eren to catch up to him. They left the storeroom with a group of pale faces waiting for them outside. They sighed in relief, visibly calming down, chuckling at their own misplaced worry.

"I should've known he was fine. Eren would've took the walls down with his screaming if something had actually happened to Levi."

Eren shifted uncomfortably beside Levi. Did they really think of him like that?

They all walked back to their table. Levi sat the crate down on the table, opening it with his knife.

"Now, boys and girls, remember to be responsible when drinking." he told them in a fruity voice. Eren stifled a giggle.


	7. Chapter 7

_Just a short filler because I needed to try and figure out the story, thanks for waiting! (if you were :p)_

After the hilarity of Levi's joking manner wore off, Eren began to panic.

Why had he asked? Would Levi's special squad be willing to be quiet about a hypothetic relationship?

Would they _really_?

Why?

The question was stupid-no, scratch that, the entire _situation_ was stupid-and for some reason he'd promised to make sure that Levi was happy.

Why had he promised that? Levi was _NEVER_ happy. At least, it was extremely difficult to tell, what with his face being neutral all the time. He couldn't possibly make Levi happy. He could make him feel irritated, maybe bored, pitiful, at the most, but never happy.

Except for today. A day where Levi had lost his mind, and had been flirting with him and laughing and confusing Eren with his adorable titbits and stories about runaway chickens and small habits that made Eren's heart soar. But even then, that hadn't been Eren's doing. Levi had been happy all on his own.

And well, it was a bit difficult to deny that he actually did like-as in, _that _sort of like-Heichou; he could have stopped his captain from implying that they were together, he could have told the group that actually; he had no idea what Levi was talking about. If they were together? What on earth do you mean?

Auruo had brought it up in the first place. Blame Auruo. Blame Auruo because Auruo usually blamed Eren. And because he made Levi defend a hypothetic situation.

If! Levi had said _if_ it were true! Not that it actually was true!

Gunther had made the whole thing serious, but wait; even before that, he'd felt Levi hand getting steadily clammier with nerves as he'd asked the group his question. Levi had been acting all lovey-dovey with him all day, to the point where even Erwin commented on it.

Levi had also implied that their relationship was real and that his question was equally honest, and by the looks of it; the group took Levi seriously because he _had_ been serious.

Why had he been clinging onto him like a lover all day?

Why had he made their relationship sound real?

Well, apparently it had all been because Levi had _wanted _a relationship between them to be real.

Oh Walls, Eren knew he'd really been outdone this time.

And maybe… he'd gone along with the idea, had asked if they would keep quiet about a hypothetic relationship, had made it sound real… for the same reason as Levi.

_Trust them_. Trust them when they said they'd keep quiet, because they'd been just as serious as Eren and Levi.

And if they were in a relationship, surely Levi would go into depth about what he meant by liking younger men because they were more _frisky_.

Eren couldn't help but look forward to that.

A while after Levi had dished out the drinks from the crate to everyone-including Eren, despite Petra's and Gunther's protests about him being too young (they'd drank beer at the barracks, for crying out loud!)-the dining hall had fallen into a comfortable hush, the alcohol soothing everyone's minds and bodies, helping them to relax, even into their stiff wooden chairs.

Across the table from Eren and Levi, Erd was talking to Gunther, although Gunther looked admittedly bored and was staring into space with his eyes slightly glazed over (cough-lightweight-cough) and Petra and Auruo were involved in what sounded like a friendly debate. Although, Auruo's eyes glinted dangerously, and by the looks of it, the alcohol was beginning to bring out his temper.

Eren slouched in his chair, having not said anything since the crate had been cracked open and they'd all been served by Levi. He bored, simply put. Sitting around talking wasn't really his thing, he had to be doing something just to feel sane.

Sitting around in a cell for who knows how long sort of had that effect on you.

The only times he didn't mind not doing anything was when he could lay down outside, maybe under the shade of a tree and day dream as he stared at the clouds.

On days like those, the sky would be as blue as Armin's eyes and there would be the sound of Mikasa chopping wood in the background… her girlish complaining that she could do it more efficiently than him, sure, but could he get off his lazy butt and do some work for once?

His mind drifted as he sat at the table, taking him back to his childhood, leading him to think of his mother and the way she'd always scolded him for not helping Mikasa-even though Mikasa had basically told him not to bother if he couldn't do it right like she could-and he'd just rolled his eyes at her and said he would next time.

There weren't any more "next times" now, were there?

In the reflection of his drink in his clasp, he pulled himself out of his musings, and saw Levi's serene profile as the older man sipped his drink, the older man's hooded eyes making him seem sleepy as he tried to keep up with Petra and Auruo's conversation. He felt himself smile a little.

Eren had only seen the older man sleep one time, when he'd rescued Levi from falling over in the hallway, and was reminded of how young the corporal looked when he actually was asleep.

In fact, the rounded shape of his face, his clear, smooth skin and, well, his height suggested that he actually was very young. Although, the dark tint of grey under the man's sharp eyes told him otherwise, reminding him of Levi's position, his job, even his past of being in a gang, all of which added up into years of experience. And if he recalled correctly, there had been a lot of paperwork on Heichou's desk…

Levi really needed to sleep more. If anything, the man could do with a nap right now. He must have really liked his squad if he was willing to sacrifice his free time to spend it with them.

Eren shifted in his seat, taking his captivated attention away from Levi, cracking the stiff joints in his neck as he reached a hand there and shuffled his feet under the table. Yeah, he really wasn't one for conversation.

When talking, he stuttered too much when it came to someone important and with friends, he ended up leading off into a speech since he just had a lot of ideas. Jean loved it when he did that. Not.

Come to think of it, what was the old horseface up to these days? Had he joined the Garrison like the weakling he was? Had he finally plucked up the courage to ask Marco out? Maybe even Mikasa? (Although, he didn't really like the idea of the second one. It just felt…weird. And he knew fine well that his sister deserved way better than that idiot, even if he meant well.)

Relationships were rare in the army, even same gender ones that wouldn't result in pregnancies, along with a shameful discharge.

You were more likely to die than make it to the next day anyway, so people didn't waste time on nonsensical things like "Do I like him? Does he like me back?"

Then again, that was sort of what Eren himself had been doing. Oh, the irony.

He sighed, although it sounded more like a huff from an irritated five year old child at an adult's party, and he glanced around the room, no longer interested in the chatter at the table.

Suddenly he was jolted back into reality as he felt a warm hand on his arm-Levi-and he turned around to face him.

"You're fidgeting, are you bored? We could go for a walk." Levi suggested.

With the way his eyelids drooped slightly and his mouth upturned at the corner, not to mention the slight redness in his cheeks… Eren had a feeling that he'd been right, and Levi did want a relationship with him…

As he thought that, he quickly looked away from the raven haired man with his stomach in knots and bit the inside of his lip in his embarrassment.

The man was just drunk, Jeez, he didn't need to go about over thinking things.

Besides, this wasn't really the Levi he'd fallen for before. He lacked a bitter attitude, no longer had his deadpan humour, and the Levi he knew was nowhere near as open (read: seductive) as this man.

He flushed and pulled out of Levi's grasp, still not looking at Levi, but pulled his chair out, and the scraping of wood against wood echoed in the hall.

"A walk sounds good."


	8. Chapter 8

_Hey, how's you? More updates yay~ You should share this if you like it. Maybe leave a review. I like those. Enjoy~_

* * *

Levi appeared to be excited, seemingly knowing exactly where their walk should be as he grabbed Eren by the forearm, dragging him from the table in the warm dining hall, and to the back entrance of the castle. Eren remembered that here, there had been a huge amount of mould on the ceiling, and that he'd been in this area alone for several hours, simply because the ceiling kept crumbling, rendering it useless to bother cleaning it.

But of course, Levi had been on his back, making him scrub every inch of the mould away. That was when Eren learned Levi's biggest pet peeve in the world of dirty things: mould and mildew. He was tempted to exploit this fact, and had actually planned to at some point in his cell to get back at him for beating him up, just as a small revenge scheme, maybe just even a prank. But he had never gotten round to figuring out how in the walls he could do it.

Levi moved quickly, causing Eren to stumble a few times, though the latter wasn't actually drunk. He'd only had two drinks, maybe three, due to his boredom and to show everyone -especially Petra and Erd- that he, as a fifteen year old boy, was very capable of drinking as much as a regular adult.

He shivered as the raven haired man clutched onto him tighter when they reached the back door, seemingly grey but was in actual fact brown during the day. Levi pushed it open, revealing a gust of cold air from outside and they walked into it.

Well, Levi walked out. Whereas Eren trudged reluctantly, knowing that with coldness came illness; and that wasn't something he liked to be reminded of about his previous home in Shigansina.

They made their way across a grassy plain that everyone called "the back yard" though it was more like a field than a garden, seeing as it stretched out a good few hundred meters, reaching out all the way to the forest in the distance.

There was a gleam in Levi's eyes, though there was only the light of the half moon above them for them to see with, so Eren could have just been seeing things. But after all he had gone through today, he was pretty sure that he should keep alert, just to be sur-

There was suddenly a shed in front of them, and Levi dropped Eren's arm in favour of pushing him from behind on his shoulders in the direction of said shed. It surprised Eren, that Levi would want to go to such a shed, because it was dirty. As in, it was _filthy_; grey from old age, and it probably had rot everywhere, and wasn't Levi supposed to hate that sort of thing?

"Wa-wait, sir! Why are we going into the shed?!"

Levi said nothing, and not even a dark chuckle escaped his lips as he pushed Eren to the shed, forcing the latter to open the door that had been thrusted in front of him. Eren recoiled at the touch of the wood, though luckily for him it wasn't damp or squishy, and managed to get them inside. Levi quickly closed the door behind him as Eren took a look around.

…There was nothing in the shed except for a cage, a plain desk and lots and lots of spider webs…

Eren turned to frown at Levi, trying to figure out what was going on.

"Ah… It looks like I left them behind. I thought there'd be some here, but…" Levi trailed off, glancing towards the door again.

"What? What are you looking for, sir?"

"Just a second, kid. I'll be back in a few moments." The door slammed as Levi left.

And just like that, Eren was abandoned in a shed in the middle of nowhere.

He sighed to himself, knowing that this hadn't exactly been his idea of going for a walk. Still, he was out of his straps and uniform, and he appreciated the freedom from the tight material. It was dark, but it was better than the cell. He took in the room around him, not seeing anything different from before, although he noticed that there was a window. At least he wasn't in pitch darkness.

Awkwardly standing in the middle of the room, unwilling to touch anything, for fear of being covered in cobwebs, Eren let his mind wander. Did their new status as a couple mean that they could kiss? Eren recalled the amount of times that he'd wanted to, earlier on that day.

Maybe not in the morning when he'd been in shock over the change of personality (and Levi's surprising forwardness at the breakfast table), but he had when Levi had snuggled into him after his cold war with Erwin, after training, during Levi's story about a chicken hunt… When they were drinking, Levi had licked his lips to catch a drop of the sour liquid. Eren wished he could've done so for his captain.

Well, he'd wished for a taste of Levi's lips before, back when Levi had his stoic personality and crude humour, hadn't he?

He should've been satisfied that Levi was willing to be his lover, but something, something _important _was missing.

Eren was confused. The corporal didn't like him, not really, Eren couldn't make him happy. Yet… he'd been smiling a lot today. Coincidence or not; Eren had been the one around him for the majority of said day, so that had to mean _something_.

But now he was drunk, and apparently Hanji had done something to him, according to the man himself, so he wasn't even in his right mind. This wasn't the Levi he'd come to lov-

It wasn't, was it? This man, the other Levi, was more open, more flirtatious, was he really nothing like the real Levi? And come to think of it, hadn't Eren been thinking non-stop about this other Levi? Had in fact imagined kissing him, as much as he had for his other persona?

Just then, Levi came in, carrying a large satchel. He sauntered in, briefly brushing by Eren to kiss his cheek and smirked afterwards -making the latter yelp and snap out of his daydreams- dumping the bag on the dusty desk. The bag was opened; and two dusters and bandanas were held up in Levi's hands.

"This place is worse than a pigsty. We're cleaning it." Levi shuddered as he saw the cobweb ridden window.

… This was Levi alright.

"Hey, Levi." Eren spoke up after a while of cleaning. The shed still didn't look much better. Some serious cleaning was required for this job. "Why'd you bring me here? Was it just to clean this place? I thought we were going for a walk?"

"We walked to here from the castle, doesn't that count?" Levi replied, avoiding the subject.

Eren chuckled. "Not really, I mean, aren't walks usually outside?"

Levi turned around, removing the wipe from the window he was trying to clean. He smiled as he said, "If you want to go outside and freeze your ass off, go right ahead. Just know that I won't be touching any blue balls, though."

Eren grimaced at the thought, though his eyebrows raised at Levi's innuendo. "It's already pretty cold in here, there's not much difference in temperature here than outside." What did Levi mean by _touching blue_ _balls_? Did he mean the sack under Eren's-?

Levi cocked his head and walked over to Eren, pulling his bandana down from his face to reveal one side of his mouth upturned. His already hooded eyes became more hidden, though not shut, as he wrapped his arms around Eren, smelling his scent of dried leaves and moss, humming contentedly as he basked in Eren's warmth. His breathing hitched. Eren heard it. He wasn't sure what to think of it.

Not his titan shifter warmth, no, this heat was the kind that came from a blushing boy with the blood running down south as Levi sighed onto his skin, making Eren shudder in delight.

"So damn warm. You can't possibly be cold, Eren." The taller boy had to grind his teeth in an attempt to restrain himself, but allowed himself the return the hug and put his arms around Levi's waist.

Though why should he restrain himself? Levi was clearly fine with the closeness, he had kissed Eren's cheek several times that day…

But the relationship thing still bothered Eren. For some reason, he found himself unwilling to give up his first real kiss for someone who was just a passing fancy. Not a passing thing on his behalf, but he needed to make sure that Levi liked him. Was that a girlish thought? No. It was reasonable enough, right?

"H-hey, you still haven't told me why we're here." Was it so Levi could confess? Was it so they'd have privacy, should Eren have to confess his own feelings?

He gulped as he processed this, his heart beating more wildly in his chest, so much that it was a painful throb and caused his mind to short out.

Confess. To _Levi_? He couldn't. He hadn't implied as much for as long as he'd realized he liked him, and was fairly happy keeping it that way (wasn't he?). But he'd have to. If Levi wanted him to, which was what their situation implied, he would definitely have to.

Hell, he _wanted_ to, despite his fear of rejection and just plain nerves, he needed to reassure himself, to have _Levi_ reassure _him _when, if, he returned the sentiment. He needed to hear it from the man himself that this thing between them was rea-

"This was where me and Erwin kept the chicken, Assassin. Remember the story I told you earlier?"

The mention of Erwin had Eren frowning and made his pants a little less tight.

Not that his libido would go out of control over a simple hug -one where Levi nuzzled into his neck and breathed onto the sensitive skin there, blowing cold air onto his hot skin as he spoke in a way that made Eren twitch ever so slightly- he wasn't controlled by his hormones, he was better than that, of course.

"V-vaguely…" he really didn't want to think about Erwin right now…

"Levi," he began again, more urgently this time. "I was wondering, about what you said earlier, um, t-to Auruo and the others about-"

Levi pulled away abruptly. Eren frowned in confusion as the older man slipped out his embrace, no longer touching him. Levi grimaced in pain as he touched his head, gritting his teeth, wobbling on his feet. Eren's eyes widened at the sight as he worried.

"Levi, are you drunk?"

"I don't get drunk, brat." Levi looked up, not seeing Eren's mouth drop open, and continued glaring at his surroundings. "Though if I'm not drunk, and you aren't capable of knocking me out, I don't understand how the hell I got here. This place is fucking filthy. I left it that way for a _reason_."

Eren felt his knees grow weak with relief.

"Thank the _walls_."


	9. Chapter 9

_I feel like I might've made this slightly depressing... And ah, fear not! Hanji will explain things next chapter! Things will happen for once! Thanks for the comments, I've really enjoyed reading them~_

* * *

Relieved. Eren was relieved, of course.

A whole day had tired him out with all it's sudden, unexpected events. Now that that was gone, all his worries were over.

His arms felt empty after Levi pulled away from their embrace.

He walked across the grassy field with Levi, who's usually impassive face seemed more angry than usual, letting Eren know that keeping quiet as they walked was probably the best option. He found that he kept glancing at the corporal's hunched back.

The chilling gust of air that sent shivers down his body made him more alert. It sharpened the thoughts in his mind. It made him realize something.

After the things that had happened today, and the things that Eren had allowed himself to think and feel; he wasn't going to be able to look at Levi the same way again.

He had realized that he had feelings for Levi, and hade even gone against his own belief that relationships, even just crushes, were bad news within the military.

And Levi wouldn't even know that he wouldn't be looking at him the same way as he had before, because he seemed to have… forgotten. How convenient, for Levi's own sake.

Eren breathed in a shaky sigh. This was it. That's all there was to it. Levi was back to normal. The next day he would probably shout at Hanji, make everyone clean the castle -including him- and do his paperwork. He'd scowl at everyone just like he usually did.

Eren needed some sort of closure to this day. There couldn't just be some click that made everything seem normal again. Because they weren't going to be normal.

The squad would ask things, and they'd look at him differently. He would remember things like how soft Levi's hair was, or how his kisses felt like butterflies landing on his skin and that he'd heard the man _laugh_ for the very first time, ever. He didn't know what thinking of that did to his face, but he knew it wouldn't be the look he normally gave Levi.

And he would want to reach out to touch Levi, more so than before, or he would look at Levi expectantly, without realizing the situation, waiting for Levi to latch onto his arm-

Crap, he _really _needed to do something because Levi clearly wasn't going to. He wasn't going to confess to Eren, that much was certain. Neither was he. He had to have some sort of plan…

Hanji. In the morning, Hanji would be the person to go to, seeing as Levi had accused her of poisoning his tea.

Eren let out a tired sigh as they made their way inside, and closed the wooden door behind him. They walked through grey, stone walled passageways, and Eren couldn't help but be reminded of their usual mornings walking together from his cell to the dining room.

It had been the morning of the dreaded teaspoon incident that Eren had realized that he was staring at Levi's elegant profile, and that there had been some… lingering desires behind those stares. Throughout the rest of the day, he had seen how much attention he had given the man in general, down to the way he drank his tea and his crude language that he couldn't help but find funny.

Then when Levi had spoken to him, encouraging him-of all things-that it hadn't been his fault he'd suddenly combusted into a titan. And that he probably shouldn't do it again.

It was then, with a smile on his face as he chuckled inwardly at Levi's roundabout yet blunt ways of talking, that he saw his admiration for the corporal had grown significantly. But it hadn't been until today that he accepted that that was how he felt.

Walls, he was doing it already. Thinking about Levi in _that_ way. It would be best to just distract himself. Maybe… Levi would be more willing to talk now?

"If you want sir, I could… explain what happened today?" He spoke hesitantly as he searched the man pacing in front of him for any signs of co-operation.

Levi glanced at him over his shoulder, making Eren's heart skip a beat. The man really did have such an _amazing_ profile-

"If I want? Go on then, enlighten me, Jaeger. I think I can remember everything up to yesterday evening, when I was in my room with you. I was in pain, I remember that. And you were yelling about needing to get "a bucket"."

"Well, I'm not sure how it started, though you did mention Hanji-" Levi stopped walking.

"What did that shitty-glasses do?" Levi spun on his heel to glare at him, and now Eren's heart was beating fast, out of fear. Eren gulped as grey eyes surveyed him intensely. He clearly wasn't in a very co-operative mood…

"I-I'm not sure. I mean, I considered going to her tomorrow, since you mentioned she poisoned your tea and I wanted to see what she had done, but I, uh, I doubt that she actually poisoned you, seeing as you seem… fine, sir."

"Right. I see. I think it would be too late to see her now, she's probably in the middle of something at this time. We'll deal with her tomorrow. So go on, tell me what happened."

He turned away and began to walk again, seemingly more relaxed but there was something sinister about his promise to "deal" with her tomorrow…

Luckily for him, Levi couldn't see the blush immediately invade his face, flushing his cheeks in such a fast rush of heat that even just looking at Levi's back embarrassed him to no end.

"Oh, h-how do I put this, um…" Eren scratched the back of his head uncertainly. "You were very, uh, affectionate. With me, in particular. Um, you attended duties as normal, just… in a very, very different manner, I suppose."

He stared up at the ceiling as he walked, now walking down stairs with his footsteps and voice echoing in the passageway that lead to the basement.

"So nothing bad happened? The training went by okay, and no-one was hurt?"

Eren felt his eyebrows crease together as the disappointment settled in. Of course, Levi would care about the practical factors of the day. He wouldn't care to ask how he'd been affectionate. He didn't really seem to care as long as everything went according to plan.

There was a heaviness in his chest as his processed this. Was this… what it meant to be in denial? He had told himself not to care, but that was apparently inevitable. He still needed closure.

"Yes, no-one was hurt." he spoke flatly, almost mirroring Levi's tone.

He needed closure, which was human. But he obviously wasn't going to be satisfied with what he was going to get in the end; rejection.

Apathy.

"That's good. Let's get you to your cell. I'm tired as hell."

Oh yeah, Eren should tell Levi to sleep more. He should have, but he never did.

The next morning after a long night in the dark cell, Levi came to unlock the cell as usual.

"We'll go to Hanji first, before breakfast." Levi's face was illuminated by the candle he held. It was scary, the way it darkened his eyes and the hollows of his cheeks. Way scarier than even hanji was capable of.

"Yes, sir." He cracked his joints as he moved from the bed, making Levi twist his face in disgust. "Sir, would you like me to elaborate on what happened yesterday?"

When Eren wasn't satisfied with something; he persisted until he got what he wanted. He had persisted in seeing through his dream of joining the survey corps, even when going against his mother's wishes. He had persisted time and time again when he had tried to work the maneuver gear.

A new sense of duty drove him; if he wasn't happy with idly sitting by with feelings cooped up inside his being, then he would very well tell Levi what he had done the previous and Eren would tell Levi _exactly_ what he thought of it.

When he didn't hear an answer from the stoic man, he began to tell the story of yesterday as they walked to Hanji's office, beginning with the sentence:

"So, the first thing you did after I woke up in your room was straddle my waist, and tell me 'Hey there Mr. Hard On' which by the way, didn't seem very fair to someone in my position, and at my age too."


	10. Chapter 10

_HOLY SH*T THERES SO MANY VIEWS ON THIS, even more than the original version on AO3, and that one's got 21 chapters! I must be doing things right this time around... ^.^ Thanks for reading! Enjoy~_

* * *

They didn't even reach halfway to Hanji's room before Levi finally snapped and told Eren to "fucking shut up". Well, that's putting it nicely, considering Eren was viciously pinned against a stone wall at one point -not in the good way- and learned just how bad Levi's potty mouth was and how it felt to have Levi's breath ghosting his face. The last part was pretty damn pleasant.

But to be on the receiving end of that verbal abuse? It wasn't the most pleasant experience he'd encountered. Even so, Eren had to stifle a giggle beneath his palm.

He'd only managed to get to the part where Levi had been flirting with him during training, and how terrible a fighter he'd been during their sparring. Eren mentioned how Levi told him that what Eren said had turned him on in the middle of the field.

In the passageway, he swore he saw Levi's nose go slightly red just before the tip after Levi finished lecturing him. Even in the darkness, colour on a face as pale as Levi's was easily noticeable. It made his eyes glint with vulnerability, and that unsettled Eren. Because when was Levi ever vulnerable?

Then he realized; it was the same red tin the saw when Levi had looked at him while touching his face the other morning, looking at him with a love-sick gaze… He really wanted to see something like that again, if only for a moment.

Still, he was happy enough just to be by Levi's side, although… Levi seemed a little more obvious in his attempt to avoid Eren. The smaller man sauntered in front of him, boots clacking angrily as they finally made it to Hanji's room. Levi gave a short knock then walked straight in.

"Come on, brat. I don't have all day." He didn't wait for Eren.

Eren followed behind, entering the room timidly. He didn't really know what to expect, not after having met the woman herself. If her room reflected anything of her personality, he'd have to _force_ himself to go in.

Like the other rooms, the walls were lined with chestnut panels, there was one window at the far end of the room and the floor was cold, grey and concrete. Hanji herself was at her wooden desk with a single unlit candle on a tall, golden candle stand. Papers littered the desk, but it was surprisingly neat, compared to the chaotic mess of leaflets Eren had expected.

Hanji sat at her desk, weary from exhaustion with bags under her eyes, and her greasy bangs shrouded her features. But she was still enthusiastically writing with her mouth in a tight line. She snapped her head up to look into nothing when Levi banged his fist against the desk with a loud rattle.

"Oh. Levi. Go away. I'm busy." Hanji looked back down, not even glancing at Levi and began to write as though she hadn't even been interrupted.

Levi marched behind the desk, roughly fisting the collar of Hanji's shirt with a sneer as he wrinkled his nose. There were sweat stains beneath her armpits, so she'd evidently been wearing the shirt for some time. Eren was beginning to understand why Levi was so adamant about cleanliness being a priority. Sweat wasn't nice to look at or smell.

"Shitty glasses. What did you do to me yesterday?" he growled.

Hanji simply blinked at him behind her goggles, still in a daze, as though she could still see the thing she was writing in front of her eyes. Her brown ponytail swished as she shook her head with her hazel eyes widening.

"Desk. Notes. Leave me alone, I'm busy."

She teased Levi's grip from her shirt and went back to writing. Eren glanced at her work over the desk… it looked like she was writing her theories on Sawney and Bean, the titans she'd captured.

Levi picked up yellow notes from the desk at the corner, frowning as he scanned each one carefully. Levi's mouth pulled back slightly into a grimace. His mouth was a sweet pink colour, like a carnation or a rose in the spring…

"Oi, brat." He raised his voice, glowering darkly at Eren.

He yelped. "Y-yes sir!"

"Did you hear what I said?"

Eren paused uncertainly. "Um, no not really. Sorry, corporal."

Levi scoffed at him, flicking his sleek black hair from his face -Eren knew what that hair felt like when it brushed his face- and then stabbed at the paper with a pointed finger.

"This shit here says I had my emotions "heightened" while I was on the "potion". It's also got a lot of insults aimed at Erwin, and I'd like to know why the hell that bastard's involved." He took a side glance at Hanji.

She bounced up out her chair, suddenly out of her trance. "That's right! The potion!" if someone who didn't know her well enough to know she was insane, they'd say she looked cheerful.

"I asked members of the squad about your behavior the other day, and took a look for myself."

She'd been spying on them the entire time? Walls, that was creepy. And to think she could've heard the things that Levi said to him… She'd seen Levi cosy up to him and everything. Eren felt himself flush in embarrassment, knowing he'd acted almost as lovey-dovey.

"'A heightened state of emotions' was the conclusion I came to. And because it was the chemical from Eren's DNA that heightened your emotions, it connected to Eren's biology and uh, what's the word? Ah, it _lowered _his emotions, but Petra mentioned it was only for a short time during your sparring."

She rushed over to Eren, sending papers spilling from the table and she grabbed his shoulders. "Tell me Eren. How did it feel? Were you nauseous? I remember seeing Levi almost throw up and then you helped him. Actually, what happened in Levi's bedroom? Did you have sexual intercourse? Maybe the exchange of body fluids would explain why Eren's emotions were also affected!"

Eren immediately squeaked at the thought and mention of the word 'sex'. Him and Levi? Walls, what would that even be like? Um, maybe now wasn't the appropriate time to think about that… He bit his lip in an attempt to push back the thoughts.

Hanji dashed back to her navy swivel chair, excitedly swinging her body from side to side as she found a paper without any writing on it, scribbling down her new theory. Levi stole her pen with a fierce snarl.

"No. We did no such thing."

"How would you know? You forgot about the whole thing." Eren countered daringly, staring into Levi's grey eyes intensely. Not because he wanted to check him out or anything… His chest heaved, only pausing to hitch once.

Levi snapped the pen in half as he returned the heated gaze. Hanji silently screamed with a look of pure horror, opening her mouth in an o shape, mouthing 'that was my favourite pen!' before finding another one in the drawer beneath her waist. It looked exactly the same as the previous.

"I would know, because you wouldn't be able to look me in the eye afterwards."

Eren could barely do so as it was, and he dropped his eyes to the floor guiltily when the eye contact became too much. It was far too dizzying for his pounding teenage heart to take.

"So we _didn't_, did we." Levi stated harshly.

"No, sir."

Levi turned to glare at Hanji. "And what's this about Eren's DNA? Oi, glasses, pay attention."

Hanji hummed happily, crossing out random areas of her notes and adding new bits in. "I snuck into his cell, and used his hair."

Ah, that explained why Eren thought she'd opened his door the other morning. Wait, how had she taken his hair without him noticing? Did he sleep _that _heavily?!

Levi gave her a long, hard stare that she ignored with a blissful sense of naivety. She sighed into her paper as she examined it, her eyes softened slightly.

"Erwin made me, so don't get too mad. I got mad at him while I was writing my notes, it was not healthy. And… No. I probably shouldn't say. He might kill me, and then I wouldn't get to finish my research." Eren decided that Hanji needed to sort out her priorities.

By the looks of it, Levi had decided that it was no use in interrogating her further as he walked out the door, folding his arms across his uniform shirt with an irritated sigh.

"I can't believe I fucking drank your _hair_. That's revolting, even by her standards."

Eren cringed and nodded as they walked towards the dining hall. "I… have to agree with you there, sir. Though at least you didn't taste it…"

Levi muttered something about poisoning _her _tea soon.

Eren considered helping him out when he did.

Eren mucked out the stables with Petra, by Levi's orders since Levi had paperwork he'd missed out on doing yesterday. The smell of hay filled his nostrils, almost overwhelmingly, and he hummed tunelessly as the horses stamped their feet and whinnied softly, wanting to be fed even though they weren't due to be fed for another few hours.

Petra had asked him how his relationship with Levi was going… Did she not see how he'd changed back to normal? Eren told her it wasn't going so well, but wished that it was.

She left the stables with another wheelbarrow of horse manure (he may have bribed her to do it with part of his dinner; he hated shit). He'd changed into his casual clothes earlier, seeing as his uniform couldn't afford to be dirtied by mucking out, and was now wearing his well loved beige, cotton shirt with its string and fabric pants that chaffed his thighs when he walked.

He bent over in the aisle separating the stalls to pick up another load of hay and he heard a cough, a sharp sound noting him of their presence, and was taken aback to find Levi standing behind him, still in his uniform of a clean shirt and white trousers, but lacked the jacket.

Eren's heart began to beat faster and his mouth dried up as the raven haired man drew closer, closing in on him. Out of habit, he straightened his back and saluted, pitch fork still in the hand he placed behind his back, as though he was a child hiding a toy he wasn't supposed to have.

Levi's cold, grey gaze never left his until he entered the stall that Eren had just come out of, the one with Levi's horse. Levi's horse was auburn coloured with a large speck of white on it's muzzle and Levi petted the white area. Levi looked up above the stall, adjusting his cravat with a hooked finger. Eren noticed he was perched ever so slightly onto his tiptoes and smiled at the sight.

Levi turned to face Eren with a stony look and Eren's smile vanished. "Petra's gone out back, hasn't she?" his voice was indifferent and bored sounding like usual.

Eren's eyebrows quirked in surprise and confusion. Suddenly, he found himself incapable of responding. Should he tell him yes? Or no, because Petra would be back soon and apparently Levi needed to keep something secret from her? Should he just stand in the middle of the aisle, gaping at his superior like an idiot? Because that's exactly what he was doing.

"U-um, she _has_ gone to the back, but she should be returning soon. Sir." With an approving grunt, Levi turned away from him, focusing his attention onto the horse, cupping a hand around it's muzzle as it turned to face him and its ears flicked happily.

Curiously, Eren stepped into the stall and watched Levi murmur to the horse and languidly slip his hand into his back pocket. Eren's eyes widened, gulping dryly at the sensual action. It looked as though Levi was touching himself for _him, _teasing Eren with the capabilities that only a man as self-unknowingly seductive as Levi would have.

Lately, he'd been too tired from training and cleaning to really take care of his body… He'd also had more than enough material to help him out, especially with yesterday's episode. Eren raised an eyebrow to himself. It seemed he had his plans for tonight sorted out, then.

Eren flared his nostrils as he breathed out and continued watching Levi whisper to the horse, either unaware of Eren watching him, or didn't give a damn that he was. Levi seemed to be… giving the horse treats? No, he was _sneaking_ them to the horse, making sure that _Petra_ didn't see.

He titan shifter grinned lopsidedly and bashfully looked away from the childishly mischievous act. Crunching steps in the yellowed hay had him looking towards Levi and made him move out the corporal's way. Levi paused in front of him, raising a dark, trimmed eyebrow and smirked almost cheekily.

Walls. He remembered what Levi sounded like when he laughed. How his face lit up brightly when the man _really _smiled. Eren stared unwaveringly at the man in front of him with his stomach in tight, lurching knots.

"Petra tells me he's going to get fat if I keep giving him sweets. Give him a run around the field when his stomach's settled."

Levi left the stall with a swagger in his walk, completely unlike his usually elegant posture, leaving Eren behind him, resting against the post on the fence that separated the stalls.

Eren sighed affectionately. He leaned further into the post, into his diagonally crossed arms, with half lidded green eyes staring after Heichou's back.

A back that was muscled beneath the surface of his shirt. He knew that after seeing his shirt becoming drenched enough to see his skin when they were washing laundry outside one day.

_Seriously _muscled, beyond _belief_, even. Taut muscles that were smooth and covered in skin scarred with pinkish marks from various mishaps, scars that Eren wanted to trail his tongue over…

His skin burned where Levi had once held onto his forearm. Then his body shuddered, effectively knocking over the bucket of water beside his feet. Huh, that hadn't been there before, surely…

It did its job. It caught him out in the act. He shouldn't be thinking of fucking his _superior _or _anything_ of the sort.

…

Especially not with poor Petra coming up behind him with an empty wheelbarrow, confusedly seeing Eren's flushed face, his hunched over back, and um, the slight tent in his pants. He tried to hide it by slipping back into the stall and tugging his shirt over his growing bulge. He'd have been helpless if Levi had seen him in this state.

He gasped brokenly, feeling the burning pressure in his pants.

Holy Saint Maria's Wall: he'd once been helplessly blushing just from _almost _looking at the man at the same time! How the hell had his bravery improved so quickly?!

The horse whinnied, and nudged his shoulder, mocking him with horsey laughter that sounded suspiciously a lot like Jean's.

Eren bared his teeth at the horse and hissed, "Shut up Horseface."


	11. Chapter 11

The next morning, Eren woke up feeling refreshed. In fact; much better than he had done for a long time. Who'd have known that satisfying his libido could do him this much good? His headache from yesterday was gone. Sure, he might not have _completely _satisfied his desires, but it was much better than being celibate.

He lay awake in his lumpy bed, staring into darkness at grey stone walls, and recalled the feeling of his back on the wall behind his bed, when he had pleasured himself against it the previous night. He shivered at the memory.

Last night he'd imagined fire against ice. The heat of the corporal's smooth chest against his as he straddled his waist, and the rough texture of the frigid wall scraping his back. Wow. You couldn't tell Eren that he lacked a vivid imagination, that was for sure.

Luckily, he'd managed to clean himself up with a spare cloth, and he'd be able to wash himself later in the shower. Now all he had to do was wait for Levi to come and take him to the dining hall.

Why hadn't he done that before? Seriously. Getting himself off was not only something to do, but it was a great stress reliever. Wait. If he let himself think like that, he'd end up repeating it every night. (Was that such a bad thing?)

Eventually, he heard Levi's footsteps as his boots clicked down the passageway. Sitting up eagerly in bed and tossing dirty blankets aside, he prepared himself to make a show for Levi.

His heart leapt when he finally saw the raven haired man standing outside the bars of the cell, unlocking the door. Eren bit his lip as green eyes met grey ones, and he pulled his arms over his head, stretching as he arched his back with a drawn out groan.

"Mornin' Heichou." He breathed smugly.

Levi looked at him through the bars of the cell with a deadpan glare. His face said; "Nope." and he locked the door again, then walked away.

Confused, Eren frowned and walked to the door, peering out of the bars to see Levi walking back towards him. He reopened the door. Eren jogged to catch up with Levi, who was pacing quickly away.

"Why did you do that, sir?"

Levi shook his head in exasperation, walking ahead of Eren. "Tch. The last thing I need is for a horny teenager to show me the stains on his shirt. Fucking _filthy_."

Just as he feared, Eren looked down and sure enough there was a mark where he'd apparently _came_ on his shirt. Mortified, he grabbed at the hem of his shirt, twisting it so that it hid the stain. The heat that grew on his face was even hotter than his temperature when he was a titan, turning his entire face a bright red.

"T-that was an accident, s-sir. I d-didn't mean to display _that." _he choked.

On their way to the dining hall, Eren felt the pressing need to talk to Levi. He wasn't sure why. He liked being in companionable silence, didn't he? Yes, he did. But he was more nervous than usual. His stomach was filled with butterflies. Eren couldn't help but continuously look back to see Levi's figure.

Why couldn't he ignore those feelings? He'd felt them many times before… so why was it different to be around the man now?

The only thing that had changed was… Eren was now aware of how he felt towards Levi.

Ah. That might also explain why he'd been trying to show off his muscles… his muscles that were surely puny in comparison to Heichou's…

Eren jumped a little in his step in an attempt to catch up to Levi. "So, ah, sir, what are we doing today?" his voice echoed in the passageway.

"Training."

"Oh… okay. Uh, is there… any cleaning you want me to do before then?"

Levi looked back at him then, his eyes raking Eren's body up and down peevishly. "I don't think I need to answer that."

Cringing at that but not yet giving up, he changed the topic. "Levi Heichou, what do you do in your spare time?" he asked curiously, trying to make small talk for some reason he couldn't quite comprehend.

"Paperwork."

"What about those mystery books you mentioned?"

Levi frowned at him and wrinkled his nose in distaste. "I never mentioned any books."

"Y-you did, the other day. I don't suppose you remember though." Eren chuckled half heartedly, hating how the sound echoed back at him, like it was mocking him.

… What was he doing? Why was he trying to talk to Levi, when the man clearly didn't want to converse? Not while his shirt had stains, at least…

Well he knew why, but just… _Why_? If self harm hadn't been prohibited, he would smacked himself in the face.

He told himself to keep quiet as they reached the dining hall, sitting as far away as he could from the man in the hopes he wouldn't embarrass himself more, still clutching his shirt as he ate so that Auruo wouldn't tease him. Eren knew he would. He was practically the older version of Jean, seeing as they both _loved_ to piss Eren off.

He groaned helplessly into his bread loaf, doing his best not to stare when Levi started eating bread in the most innocently yet most lewd way he never knew was possible.

* * *

Erwin's plan had been simple.

Key words: had been.

Originally, he'd planned to have Eren fall for Levi. In doing this, Eren would either a) get caught trying to sneak to Levi's room b) get into a fight with someone about his feelings for him or c) irritate Levi so much with his puppy dog eyed pleading that Levi would cast him away, asking Erwin to send him on his way.

It was a win-win situation for Erwin, because no matter which option Eren chose, Erwin would make sure that it led to a court meeting where he would convince them that Eren was far too troublesome for them. Then he could be sent to the Military Police. Sure, it might give the Recon Corps an even worse reputation, but simply put; Erwin just didn't give a fuck anymore.

Having a person who could transform into a titan was unnatural and quite frankly, it made him sick to have the enemy being cared for under his own goddamn roof.

From the beginning, he'd been opposed to the idea. But when Levi suddenly went down from the witness box to where Eren was tied to a pole with chains at his wrists, and kicking him, or as he put it "disciplining him", Erwin obviously had to cover for him.

So he'd told the judge his "idea" where Eren could be used for missions, he could train with Erwin's army. Really, watching Eren be beat the shit out of was satisfying and he'd felt no need to stop Levi.

Then people had began looking at him expectantly, as if he could do something about Levi. Did that mean people thought Levi was his bitch to order around? What a lovely thought…

Hanji was supposed to have given Eren a potion to make him fall for Levi, have him lapping at his every word and picking fights with anybody that didn't agree that Levi was a god. It seemed that Hanji had "misheard" him but he let that slide, she had done something with a potion, Eren had a crush on Levi, even if it had meant that Levi maybe felt the same way.

Maybe he had felt something for Eren, but Erwin could clearly see that Levi had gone back to normal today; so there was no way he could feel anything towards Eren anymore. Reciprocating feelings? What a load of shit.

And now, part two of plan b could commence.

He sauntered down to Eren's cell with a lantern in hand. It was night time, and surely the titan would be in there by now, but not asleep. Erwin just had to hope that he wouldn't catch Eren in a compromising situation… He'd seen the stains on his shirt that morning. They weren't pleasant to look at. Just the thought that he even _tended_ to _those_ kind of needs was enough to make Erwin feel physically sick.

He reached Eren's cell, knowing the boy would be able to hear his footsteps and would make himself decent in time for his arrival. He peered through the bars and lifted the lantern up. Almost instantly, he saw green eyes within the cell glow as the lamp light hit them. He considered blinding Eren. Nah. His plan was much more entertaining.

"Hello, Eren." He spoke the name with as little venom as was physically possible for him. "How are things?"

He watched as the titan shifter's face shone in the light, and slowly twisted into a grimace. "Not that well, I guess."

"Didn't the training go well today?" he asked sympathetically, shivering slightly from the lack of heat in the basement.

Eren paused for a moment, shuffling in his position on the bed.

"No… That went fine. It's more of a… _personal_ problem. Um. Love life stuff." Erwin liked where this was going.

"You can tell me Eren, I'm all ears."

"Okay, well uh, you saw the other day that Levi was acting strangely, right? And you tried to help…" his voice had an edge at the end of his sentence.

"Yeah?" Erwin encouraged.

"I uh, ended up realizing I have feelings for him. And I'm now I'm terrible at keeping my emotions in check around him." he hissed inwardly. "Please don't say anything." he begged.

Yes, this was _exactly_ what Erwin wanted.

"Why bother keeping them in check? As long as you're not angry, then what the harm in showing him how you feel?"

Eren buried his face in his hands. "I act so stupid around him, I end up doing all sorts of dumb stuff to show off, and I don't even mean to do it. It's really embarrassing. For me _and_ him. I don't think he'll ever want to look at me again after today." Eren sighed heavily.

By the sounds of it, Eren was going to go with option c): irritate Levi so much with his puppy dog eyed pleading that Levi would cast him away.

Erwin prepared himself for the long stream of teenage angst that was sure to come.

"I had cum on my shirt this morning," Could the kid be any more obscene? Not only did he have semen on his shirt but he was actually _telling_ Erwin this? "So he called me out on that. I'd been trying to, uh, flex my muscles. To show off. I'm not really sure why." He laughed weakly at himself.

"Earlier, I ended up trying to make up nicknames for him, names like 'Lee', I complimented his cleaning style, said some other stupid stuff, and he made me clean the entire top floor of the castle and gave me extra laps during training. I was just babbling. I can't even help it. How do you make it stop?"

Erwin hadn't been listening, so when Eren suddenly stopped talking, he had to backtrack and try to think of what to say.

He contorted his face, and hoped it looked like a gentle smile. "Why… why bother worrying about stopping?"

Eren furrows his brow in confusion. "What?"

"I mean… don't you want to become his lover?" he asked enticingly.

Realization dawned on Eren's face, but then quickly vanished under a scowl.

"He'll reject me. I'm not stupid. I'm aware that he doesn't harbour any feelings for me." his voice trailed off at the end, as though he was trying to convince himself that this was true.

"Oh, Eren. He might've changed back to his usual self, but he talks about you _all_ the time. He's always going on about how _great_ you look and… yeah, he basically _never_ stops talking about you." Eren didn't look convinced.

Erwin cringed at his previous false enthusiasm. The brat better fucking believe him after this because if he didn't…

Okay, Erwin. It's all or nothing.

"Did you know that he makes you clean the floors as punishment because he likes that he can see your ass?" Erwin squeezed his eyes shut.

"_What?!"_

There it was; Eren Jaeger took the bait. Now all Erwin had to do was wait for the idiot to do something about it.

* * *

_I'm not trying to character bash it's just a thoery I had, okay? I actualy kinda like Erwin coz he's so badass. Next chapter... Levi's POV! tell me if anyone's getting out of character, i want to avoid that as much as possible. Cheers~_


	12. Chapter 12

_In his normal state: Levi is alexithymic (notice the pun), a personality trait that makes it difficult for him to identify emotions in himself and others, describing his feelings for other people, the difference between bodily arousal and feelings and tends to act based on logic rather than feelings/what he wants. _

_The potion made him more aware of his emotions (he does have them, consciously as well as hidden deep down) but now that he isn't aware of them, he can't understand why he feels certain things or what those feelings are called (like he doesn't know that embarrassment means that you flush and feel warm, what love means or how to describe it in himself and others -poor Petra) and he therefore lashes out in a very tsundere like style which conveys his confusion. _

_Ask if you have questions! I don't bite! =D_

Levi's POV

* * *

Petra was in the communal shower with Levi. The shower nozzle was high above her head in the brown coloured stall, and her hair was a darker shade of her usual blonde.

Levi always thought that this was an odd transformation, and when in the shower with her, he quite often looked at it for a long time, because his hair was black and didn't do the same thing where it changed colour.

His hair couldn't go any darker when under water, he decided. But that was fine because he didn't really think any other colour of hair would suit him. He wasn't really supposed to look at Petra for too long because it made her cheeks turns red and she usually asked him to stop looking at her "like that".

Levi scolded her and told her to stop looking at his lower body "like that" but it was a different kind of "like that" because her eyes usually glazed over and she stared at a different part of his body, and not his hair like he was for her.

Were all women hypocrites, or was it just Petra?

The younger soldier was explaining to Levi about the relationship he'd apparently had with Eren. Eren had explained already that he had become more affectionate after he had drunk the potion.

Presumably, said potion had worn off, so everything was fine and he could go about his business as usual.

But people like Eren and Petra seemed to insist that he listen to them explain further, when really, he'd heard them perfectly the first time. When Eren explained further, it seemed to be that he wanted to explain, simply because he wanted Levi to know.

Levi had decided that, because Eren continued talking even when he made it obvious that he wasn't listening by walking away and mostly ignoring him.

Levi had explained to Petra about how he'd taken a potion and that he didn't remember what he had done during it.

Petra told him basically everything that Eren already had, though her tone was less insulting than Eren's had been. She was used to Levi after having been in Survey Corps with him for some time. She also knew the right kind of questions to ask because there were a lot of questions that Levi couldn't answer.

He didn't know what to say to questions like "How does this make you feel, Levi?" so usually, he walked away or told the person asking to piss off. He never bothered to ask what they meant, because there really wasn't much point since he probably wouldn't understand or care anyway.

"You know Corporal... You smiled a lot." Petra faced away from him, and she rinsed the soap out of her hair. "I think that boy might be good for you."

Levi wasn't sure what to think about the fact that he and Eren had been in a temporary relationship. He didn't really want to talk about it, because he knew fine well that the superiors wouldn't be happy with said affair. It made him wonder, though.

Why had he apparently been "clingy" with Eren? Petra said that he hugged Eren a lot, especially when grabbing onto his forearm. Levi asked Petra why he held onto his arm. Petra told him with a quiet laugh that it was probably because he liked holding Eren there.

Something occurred to Levi when he wrapped a white towel around his waist after his three minute power shower.

Eren had said he was affectionate, Petra said that he had been smiling; Hanji had said that his emotions had been "heightened."

Did that therefore mean that there was some element of him that was affectionate and smiled?

Levi didn't really smile or act affectionately. Was there some part of him that wanted to? Was there something about being with Eren that made him want to act like that?

He couldn't really think of what would make him want to smile, so he ignored the problem, and went to the changing room to get dressed.

After some light training in the morning including running laps and press ups and a fifty minute long tea break, Levi set everyone the task of cleaning the floors of the castle. They were dirty with the mud having fallen off their shoes and onto the floor.

Eren was at his station on the stairs by the dining hall, scrubbing at the steps in front of him with such vigour that Levi was sure that he'd fall down the stairs. Levi was tempted to kick Eren down the grey stairwell. He wanted to see the pink hue on Eren's cheeks when he saw it was Levi who had pushed him down, because for some reason he always blushed when he saw Levi. Levi liked the colour pink because it reminded him of flowers in the spring, and spring was his favourite season.

He liked it when Eren looked at him; his eyes were an interesting colour of green that looked like moss. He also smelled like moss. It made him feel weird inside when Eren looked at him, usually making Levi angry because he didn't know why he felt that way and what the feeling was.

But Levi didn't know why he wanted to push him down the stairs, so he didn't. He repressed the odd desire and moved over to the brunette who had a bandana covering his head and mouth. Eren looked up at the sound of Levi's footsteps and his eyes widened. His mouth was hidden by the white bandana that Levi made him wear so that he wouldn't inhale the toxic fumes of the cleaning supplies or get dirt in his lungs.

That had happened to Levi once, in the underground, it had almost killed him too. He couldn't allow the infamous little titan shifter to die of a little dust, now, could he?

Levi and Eren were wearing similar attires; white pants and beige shirts, though the shirts were of different kinds and Eren's shirt was rolled up so that his forearms were bare. Eren was standing up to attention, breathing heavily, and the manoeuvre gear straps stretched over his chest.

Eren pulled the bandana down and licked his pink lips. His lips were fuller than Levi's, bigger. Levi stared at them before catching himself in the action, getting angry because he didn't know why he was staring at Eren's mouth and why he was wondering what it felt like to touch them.

Eren was just standing there, staring at Levi, and this made him even angrier because why the hell was the idiot not cleaning?

His teeth showed as he growled. "What is it, brat? Got something to say?"

Eren squeaked in reply, eyes widening further as he bit his lip. His eyes flickered as they watched the ground and his chest stuttered in its movement. Levi decided he needed prompting.

"Spit it out or I'll have you clean the ceiling of the stairwell."

When in doubt: make Eren pout by telling him to clean.

Eren looked towards him again with bushy brown eyebrows furrowed and his teeth showing like a dog that wasn't sure if it should bite or not. Levi folded his arms, raising an eyebrow that usually conveyed the message "I want you to tell me what I want to know, now, or I will do something bad to you". Eren let out a long breath, closing his eyes tightly.

"Please, sir! I have feelings for you and I'd like for you hear me out!" he shouted.

His words echoed throughout the stairwell and from the way Eren winced, he didn't appear to like hearing his voice resound throughout the castle.

Levi couldn't feel his body and his mind was suddenly void of thought. He couldn't think of how to respond, or what to do. For some reason, Eren took this as a cue to continue.

"I can't concentrate on anything when I know you're in the room because I want to look at you more, I like your humour and the way you talk and how your body looks and I can't help but act like a moron when I try to seduce you and you are all that I can think about no matter where I am-"

"_Stop_." Eren's confession was making Levi feel strange in his chest, it was making his breathing more shallow, his face heat up, and he didn't like it because it made him uncomfortable.

Levi decided to ignore the problem he couldn't face by simply walking away from Eren. And that was that.

He felt himself being grabbed by his wrist.

"Please, Levi! I need your answer!"

Levi stared at the gaps between the stones in the wall. "Who gave you permission to call me Levi?"

"A-ah, sorry, s-sir. Please tell me what your answer is."

The question seemed to be: how would Levi react to a horny teenage brat asking him... what exactly?

"I don't understand what it is that you want me to answer. You have only told me that you have feelings for me. I don't really get it..."

Eren shifted behind him, still holding onto his sleeve that Levi hadn't removed from his grip. He wasn't sure why he let Eren manhandle him, but he was warm and it felt nice, so he let it be. Levi sighed.

"W-what I'm asking you, sir, is... would you be interested in having a relationship with me?"

"We already have a relationship. We are superior and subordinate-"

"That's not what I mean!" Eren hissed. "I mean, like, s-sex and kissing and stuff. C-couple stuff."

Levi gently pulled out of Eren's grip and assessed him carefully. Eren seemed to have been angry before, apparently because Levi misunderstood his questioning, and he seemed to have calmed down a fair bit once explaining himself. He was watching Levi carefully, waiting for his answer.

Why did Petra think that Eren was good for him? What was it about this aggressive teenage boy that apparently made Levi want to smile? Plus, what would his superiors think...?

It was better to satisfy Eren's desires. If Eren couldn't concentrate during training like he said, perhaps it was beneficial that he have a sexual partner to release his frustrations on? That was what Eren wanted, right? "Sex and and kissing" and "Couple stuff".

He really couldn't afford to let the titan shifter lose control, either. What would happen if Eren lost control simply because he had a raging libido? Imagine; Eren turning into a titan because he had _a raging hard on_. Wow. That would be embarrassing.

"Okay." Levi looked up at Eren, who smiled happily, all signs of previous frustrations completely gone from his face. "Meet me in my room two hours after dinner."


End file.
